


YOU Should Have Told Me!

by LenaraLanvers



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: AU, Alternate Ending, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, How Lena SHOULD have Found Out!, Hurt/Comfort, Lena Luthor Finds Out Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Light Angst, Season 4 alternate ending, SuperCorp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:54:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29008629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LenaraLanvers/pseuds/LenaraLanvers
Summary: Lex is there where Lena knew he would be. She knew he wouldn't have died in that fall, but she couldn't let him crawl back into hiding! The lives of everyone she cared about depended on him no longer being a threat! She had never relished the idea of taking someones life before, but she knew that only SHE could take down her brother! She knew that it wouldn't be easy, shooting her own flesh and blood, but she wasn't ready for the dying words of her brother: Kara Danvers IS Supergirl!
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Querl Dox/Nia Nal
Comments: 90
Kudos: 159





	1. The Cabin

Lena had watched the whole thing. The explosions, the smoke. Everyone else was applauding, Lex Luthor was DEAD! But she knew better. She knew that the harun-el was still in his system, and that he still had the trans-matter portal watch that would allow him to escape unnoticed. Not only that, but she knew EXACTLY where he'd go. The Cabin they’d always loved when they were younger. She knew he’d remembered it because it had been plastered all over his journals and the wall of his cell. When he made his entrance, she was there waiting on him with a loaded gun in her hand. 

She’d never thought of herself as a killer, especially not someone capable of fratricide. But here she was, pointing a gun at the very brother she grew up with and had many times hidden in the treehouse outside from their drunk father, knowing he was incapable of climbing when he was intoxicated. The very sight pained her to her core. There HAD been good in Lex, but it was all long gone now. Even still he was still her brother, she didn’t want to kill him. But she knew that as long as there was breath in the lungs of this monster, no one she cared about would be safe! The WORLD would be a safer place if Lex Luthor was dead.

Lex had always been a cocky son of a bitch, she knew even as he breathed his last breath that he would do his best to belittle her and make her once again feel as though she was far inferior to him – and unworthy of the Luthor name. What came out of his mouth, however, was more painful than any taunt or insult that she could have ever imagined. 

“You killed me. You finally proved that I’ve been underestimating you the entire time. But when I’m gone, who will be left to be proud of you? Your friends? The Jokes on YOU. Its ALWAYS Been on you!”

She watched as the screens behind her dying brother lit up with images that she KNEW were real, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe it to be true! Kara? HER Kara, catching bullets, burning pictures with lasers from her eyes. How could this be true? All this time, Kara had been slowly chipping away at the wall she put around her heart to protect herself from pain, convincing her to trust her. To trust their friends. But she had been deceiving her at every turn! Every time she was afraid for Kara’s life, and had put her own life in danger to save her friend, she’d done so not knowing that it was ludicrous to think that she needed saving at all! She’d put herself between Kara and Mercy Graves! Protected her from Eve! Even frantically tried to land a crashing plane to save them when Kara could have FLOWN them to safety at the drop of a hat! She knew Lex was still talking, he was after all a fan of the sound of his own voice, but she couldn’t hear him over the sound of her own thoughts! She was brought back to reality at the end of his soul shattering monologue.

“Denial is a very powerful thing isn’t it? It’s been standing right in front of you all this time, and you CHOSE not to see it! Kara Danvers IS Supergirl! I’m about to die, but at least I lived without ever being a fool. You’re left with no one. And NOTHING!”

She was glad he was dead now, because the stoic and brave façade that she’d been wearing was quickly failing. Her whole world was crashing down around her. She’d sacrificed her brother for someone who didn’t even trust or care enough for her to share the BIGGEST part of her life! Was Kara Danvers even her real name? Was she even a real person? What did she really look like? She’d grown fond of the blond hair, bule eyed woman over the years in ways that she never knew possible, but was that her true appearance? She knew J’onn J’onzz was a Martian, and a shape shifter. Could Kryptonians mask their true form as well? In all of Lex’s obsessive research in to Superman, she’d never heard him mention or write in his journals of any transmogrification or shape shifting. Perhaps she’d been using an image inducer? Suddenly she thought back to one of their first meetings when she’d shown her the alien detection device. How was she able to so easily fool her device? Surely it hadn’t been defective all of this time!

Every ounce of the Luthor DNA within her veins boiled at this thought. Lex was right, she was a fool! She’d allowed herself to be deceived for YEARS! To grow close to people when she’d SWORN to herself that she’d never be vulnerable again! How could she have let this happen yet again!! She could feel the scorpion inside her Luthor bones rearing back to strike! That was what a Luthor did after all. They didn’t forgive. They didn’t confront. The ATTACKED! Confrontation without altercation was for the weak. Going to Kara to see HER side of the story was as Anti-Luthor as it got, especially given the knowledge of her Kryptonian Ancestry. A Luthor and a Super could NEVER be on good terms, even if they had once been friends, even friends of the verge of something more. But Lena didn’t want to be a villain. She wasn’t JUST a Luthor after all, and even Lex had spoken fondly of the warmth and kindness of her mother. Kara may have made her out to be a fool by not revealing her true identity to her, but she had always shown her that she was not bound by her Luthor name, even if their friendship was all based on lies and deception.

She owed it not only to herself – but Kara, the woman she had shared her heart with on many occasions and had saved her more times as Kara Danvers that Supergirl EVER had – to attempt to see the situation from her perspective. Perhaps Lex was mistaken. Kara and her friends – THEIR friends – must have a good reason for keeping her in the dark all of these years. Surely they weren’t intentionally deceiving her! She tucked the gun into her belt and headed out the door, being sure to look once more to be sure that two bullets to the chest had truly been enough to rid the world of the monster that was Lex Luthor. She knew that she had to confront Kara sooner rather than later. The more time that passed, the more the Luthor DNA in here would convince her to strike back rather than attempt to reconcile the truth with the lies. She knew that they were all meeting at J’onn’s to celebrate taking down the corrupt President and his administration. This needed to be done tonight, but she didn’t like the idea of doing it in front of everyone. True, they’d all been in on the lie. J’onn, Nia and Brainy, Alex and Kelly. Oh gosh! James! James had been a part of this! No. She couldn’t take herself down THAT rabbit hole right now. Kara. Kara was the one at the center of the lie. She needed to work this out with her first, and then go from there. 

She stopped first to pick up wine. She’d need A LOT of liquid courage to go through with this. So she grabbed her favorite red and white and made her way to where she knew her friends would be. As she opened the door, her friends cheered with excitement to see her!

“James will be here soon and then the whole family will be together!”

Family? That was the word J’onn had used, but knowing how she’d been lied to made it hard to see this as the case. Although she WAS raised by the Luthor family, they were MASTERS of deception. 

“Where’ve you been?” 

That smile. She was genuinely excited to see her! Little did she know that her entire lie was about to be exposed. C’mon Luthor. Just say it! Rip off the band-aid. 

“I didn’t know what to bring so I brought red and white.”

Coward. She walked across the room and took a the seat next to J’onn on the couch. He said something about a game, but her brain was still in overload trying to come up with the courage to confront her best friend. Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

“but you’re with me right?”

Kara was looking at her so lovingly she couldn’t help but respond with “Always.” This was true, anyway. She WAS intending to at least TRY to hold on to their friendship, assuming she was able to come to terms with the deception. Kara said something about getting more wine and then got up and walked away, this would have been a perfect moment to follow after her and ask to speak with her privately. But she wasn’t fast enough, Alex was already at her heels. Still, she had to take this chance, before she lost the nerve, so she got up and followed them over to where the wine was. Not really knowing what she would say, but knowing she had to say SOMETHING!


	2. Trying.

She didn’t want to eaves drop. Kara and Alex looked as though they were discussing something serious, and she didn’t want to interrupt them, but she knew that if she didn’t confront Kara soon, she would talk herself out of it. Doing so would give her more time to wallow in the hurt and embarrassment that came from being so devastatingly betrayed for so long, which would surely lead her down a slippery slope to hatred and revenge. No, she had to do this and she had to do this now. Coming closer to Kara and Alex, she caught the end of their conversation. 

“You’re right. Not tonight.”

“What’s not tonight?” Lena was trying to hide the fact that she’d heard them say her name. 

“Uh, Kara here was trying to talk me into ordering pizza and pot stickers. I told her we have PLENTY of food already.”

Liar. 

“She’s right Kara! There’s more than enough wine and food for a small army! But um, I was actually wondering if I could speak with you privately. Its been a rather upsetting day and have a few things I need to get off of my chest.”

She may not have had super senses, but she could tell that Kara was surprised by the request.

“Absolutely. How about we say good night to everyone and I’ll walk you home. Brainy is probably going to keep cheating anyway.”

Lena nodded. She’d secretly hoped that Kara had asked if they could talk tomorrow, she should have known that Kara would drop everything and everyone the second her friend needed. Secret identity and deception aside, Kara was an amazing friend. They told everyone they were going to turn in for the night, and after several awkward hugs, they were on their way. 

It had already been planned that Lena would stay with Kara for the evening. After the day she’d had, Kara had insisted that she not stay alone. Lucky for Lena, Kara’s loft was only a few blocks from J’onn’s office. She was in good shape, but the nervousness surrounding the impending conversation was making her head spin. 

Neither of them said a word for most of the walk. Kara was obviously waiting for Lena to say something, but this wasn’t exactly a casual conversation. It was late, but there were still others out walking, going to and from restaurants and bars with friends and family. She couldn’t exactly say, “oh by the way Kara, I know you’re Supergirl!” No. This conversation required privacy, she was upset by Kara’s deception, but she knew what a big deal it was to keep her secret identity a secret. Lex may be dead, but he isn’t the only bad guy who could use that information to hurt her. Still, she was ready to get this conversation over with so she could at least TRY to relax.

Kara must have heard Lena’s hear racing, because without saying a word she wrapped her arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a friendly hug. What was meant as an innocent act to comfort a friend ignited something unfamiliar within her. This wasn’t the first time Kara had done this, she was very physical with her affection after all. But with everything going through Lena’s head, it only made her heart beat faster. It was all she could do not to lay it all out right there in the middle of the road.

After what felt like an eternity, they made it to Kara’s loft. She opened the door and allowed Lena to go first. The door had only just closed behind her when Lena couldn’t take it any longer.

“I know.”

Silence. Kara was still facing the door, but Lena couldn’t risk making eye contact with her. She was hardly holding it together as it was. As Kara turned to look at her friend, Lena could only stare at the floor. Not out of shame, but out of need. She couldn’t let Kara see the hurt in her eyes. 

“I know who you are. You’re Supergirl.”

Even without super hearing, Lena could hear Kara’s heart beat. She still couldn’t bring herself to look at her, and apparently Kara was having a similar issue. Neither of them moved for what seemed like hours. 

It was Lena who made the first move. She walked over to the kitchen and filled 2 glasses with water. She wanted something much stronger, but she knew that Kara had nothing of the sort. Water would have to do. She took the glasses and sat them on the table by the couch. The couch where she had shared many nights with Kara, talking about the latest LCorp Drama and the happenings at CatCo. She sat on the couch and sipped at her water, waiting for Kara. 

“Lena….How? Who told you I... I wanted to tell you so many times!” For such a talented journalist, Kara was struggling terribly with her words. 

“Then why didn’t you?”

It was all she could do not to stand up and scream at her, to tell her all about the pictures and the video that Lex had shown her, right after she shot him. She was doing her best to stay calm as she listened to Kara plead with her for forgiveness!

“I should have told you so long ago I know that. But I just kept making excuses because you’ve been hurt so many times. I convinced myself that I was protecting you. And then one day you were so angry with me, with Supergirl. But you still loved Kara. And I just kept thinking if I could be Kara, JUST Kara, that I could keep you as a friend. I was selfish and scared, and I didn’t want to lose you, so I kept pretending, and I never stopped. And every time I kept my secret from you I wasn’t protecting you, I was hurting you just like everyone else. And I am so, so sorry! I am so sorry!”

She didn’t know how to respond. She’d half expected Kara to try to deny it, but instead Lena got the impression that she’d been wanting to tell her tonight anyway! She remembered the fight with Supergirl over the Kryptonite, how she’d asked James to break into her vault to see if she was being truthful. Knowing now that it was KARA who had done this made that betrayal even more painful.

“Kara, I…I don’t know what to say. When Lex told me who you were…”

Lena could see the anger in Kara’s eyes at the mention of her brother’s name. 

“LEX?! Lex is the one who told you? But how, when? I thought I…” Kara stopped short of finishing her sentence. The anger in her eyes turning to remorse, almost shame even. 

“You thought you what, Kara? Killed him? No, the explosion on Shelly Island was nothing but a distraction. He escaped and went to the place I knew he’d go. He used his Trans-Matter Portal Watch. I was there waiting on him, I had the gun ready. Loaded, I could feel the weight of it in my hands. Every fiber in my being rebelled. I didn’t want to do but I knew I had to because if lex lived the world wouldn’t be safe, my friends wouldn’t be safe so I forced myself to pull the trigger. I shot my own brother in the chest.”

She was looking Kara in the eyes now. Both of them were fighting back tears. 

"His final words to me were that I was a fool. That my best friend, that every friend I had was lying to me. With his dying breath, he told me that you were Supergirl!”

It was quiet for a moment. Kara tried to speak, but Lena had to get this off her chest once and for all…

“You know, when I came to this city I promised myself that I would never trust anyone again. Then I met you. And you chipped away at my armor with your warmth and your earnestness and you convinced me to trust in people in friendship again and against my better judgement I did. All the while telling you about my achilleas heel, betrayal. I confided in you that everyone in my past had betrayed me. About how much it hurt to have someone you love lie to you and betray you> I spelled it out to you over and over again, essentially BEGGING you not to betray my trust. Begging you not to prove once again that I was a fool! You reassured me ad nauseum that you would never lie to me, that you’d never hurt me. But all the while there wasn’t a single honest moment in our friendship!”

That was the breaking point for Kara. The glass of water shattered in her hand as she stood to her feet.

“Lena, no! That’s not true! I have NEVER lied to you about how I felt about you! You don’t understand what it means to share a secret identity with someone, how much danger that puts them in! I kept my identity from you because I wanted to protect you. I know I hurt you by waiting so long to tell you my truth, I made ONE mistake. One that was only ever meant to protect you!”

She knew she was telling the truth. It didn’t take a genius to know that the best way to get to any hero is to go after the ones they care about. Knowing Kara’s secret would have made her more of a target than her name already made her. Knowing this didn’t make it hurt any less.

“I know. I know you didn’t want me to get hurt. But I did. And it took everything I have in me not to do what I always do, to not build a wall around myself and suffocate behind it. But I’m trying Kara. I’m trying to see things from your point of view. I want to believe that the friendship that we have is real, that our entire relationship wasn’t all a façade. But I can still hear Lex in my head calling me a fool. For putting myself in a position to get hurt. For allowing myself to….”

She couldn’t say anything else. The lump in her through was so big that it must have been visible. She was so choked up with emotion to say what she wanted to say. That she had fallen for her best friend. She had only recently come to terms with it herself, so to say it out loud was scarier than any attempt that Lex’s goons had made on her life. She knew from the moment she watched the compound explode in Kaznia, fearing that Kara had been trapped inside, that her feelings were much deeper than friendship, but she was too distracted with Eve to process the realization. She’d forced herself to forget it, relieved the moment she saw Kara emerge from the smoke. There was no way Kara felt the same, so there was no point in saying anything at all. But Kara was persistent now, she was not about to let Lena hold anything back, even if that meant spending the evening as Lena’s verbal punching bag. 

“Allowing yourself to what Lena? Tell me. No more secrets, no more half-truths. I don’t want there to be anything between us anymore.”

Kara’s hands were on her shoulders now, her face inches away lowered to meet the gaze of Lena’s eyes as she attempted to stare at her hands. 

“Kara, I…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the windows in the loft all shattered. 

And everything went dark…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't decided how true I'm going to stay to the events of Season 5. Should I go with the Leviathan angle, or something different entirely? 
> 
> If you've watched the show, you'll know that some of the dialog is taken directly from the show. I wanted to stay true to the ways that they told their truths to each other. The rest of the dialog is me trying my best to channel what they WOULD have said based on things that they DID Say....


	3. Reality.

Lena came to slowly. Something must have landed on her in the blast, because she could feel the weight of it covering her chest. Her eyes were heavy and her vision was hindered by the blood from a fresh wound to her head. She had just enough strength to raise her hand to her face and wipe away the blood from her eyes. What she saw shook her to her core. 

The loft was filled with a soft green glow. Kryptonite. The realization of what had happened snapped Lena back into reality. Someone had set off a kryptonite bomb in Kara’s loft. KARA! 

It was only now that she realized what was on top of her. Some how in the seconds between the shattering of the windows and the impact making its way to their spot on the couch, Kara had used her own body as a shield. Just like the night when Cyborg Superman had attacked her at LCorp. This was different though. Kara had shaken off the concrete slab like it was nothing but paper. This time, it wasn’t concrete, but Kryptonite. The ONE substance on earth that could harm – no, KILL – a Kryptonian. But how? Lex was dead, and her mother was back in prison. Who could have done this? 

She didn’t have time to think too long on the subject before the seriousness of what was happening right in front of her caused her adrenaline kick in, and she sprung in to action. Alex and their friends were only a few blocks away. They HAD to have heard the blast. The bomb was precise enough to have targeted ONLY Kara’s Loft, but it was still loud enough to shake the building and break the glass in surrounding units! 

None of this mattered to Lena at this moment, though. She couldn’t rely on the likely hood that help was on the way when her best friend was dying right in front of her. She didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she HAD to get Kara out of there. Using every ounce of strength she had left in her injured body, she attempted to lift Kara bridal style, but only made it a few feet before her knees buckled underneath her, falling down into a pile of shattered glass. She wasn’t giving up though. She was either going to get her friend to safety or die trying! 

The irony wasn’t lost on her. A Luthor dying to SAVE a Super. But if that was the legacy she was going to leave, so be it. What better way to die than saving the person you love….

Anger welled up inside of her at that thought. She was NOT going to let that happen. Not tonight. Gripping Kara’s lifeless body to her chest, she pulled herself back up. Each step brought more pain, but she didn’t care. 

Keep moving Luthor. One step at a time. She knew from her experience last year with the atmosphere being seeded with kryptonite that every second that Kara was exposed lowered the chances of her ever waking up again. She had made it almost to the door when she stumbled again, this time falling forward onto Kara. For the first time since the bomb had gone off, she was face to face with her best friend. Tears once more filled her eyes as she thought back to every time Kara had been the one to save her. She’d thought it was Supergirl, of course, but now she knew that it had been Kara all along. She thought about the time that Morgan Edge had poisoned her coffee, and she’d woken up with the faint memory of flying in Kara’s arms. It hadn’t been a dream after all. 

Lena had no strength left. Her eyes were filled not just with tears, but with blood from her own injuries, making impossible to see, and she could feel herself losing consciousness. 

She kissed Kara on the head, pulling her limp body into her chest like a mother cradling an injured child. “Please, Kara. Please, don’t die on me. Not now!”

Once again, there was the sound of breaking glass. This time however, it wasn’t from the windows, but from the door being kicked in and falling to the into a pile of glass on the floor. The last thing Lena remembers is the look of terror on the faces of her friends as they come running to her side.

Then it was dark again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than the previous ones, but a lot happens in a short amount of time. Any guesses who planted the bomb? Go find me on instagram and vote in the poll! Winners get a sneak peak of the next chapter!
> 
> @LenaraLanvers


	4. Broken.

When Lena woke, she was lying in a hospital bed. She knew there had been an accident, but she was having a hard time remembering what had happened. Looking around, it dawned on her where she was. She wasn’t in a hospital; She was in the Med Bay of the DEO. 

“Oh thank God, Lena! You’re awake!”

Lena pulled back from the tall slender woman who had grabbed her hand. It was Lillian. 

“What are you doing here, Mother?” Looking down at Lillian’s arm, she realized that her mother still had the baby truth seeker around her arm. 

“Honestly, Lena. I am your mother after all! I do care about your wellbeing, even if I don’t agree with your behavior.” Lena gave Lillian a knowing look. She knew there was SOMETHING that her mother wasn’t saying. “Oh, alright fine. Director Danvers brought me here to question me about my involvement the explosion at Supergirl’s Apartment.”

Knew it. Even with the truth seeker keeping her from lying, her mother had still managed to leave out pieces of the real story. But even Lillian Luthor wasn’t capable of fully deceiving the Vertullarian, she couldn’t have been involved. 

The details of the night were still hazy. But at the mention of Supergirl, she began to remember bits and pieces. Oh no! Kara!

“Where is she? Where’s Supergirl!” Lena was becoming frantic, pulling monitors and leads from her skin and pushing against her mother’s attempts to calm her. “Let go of me, Mother I have to find her!”

“You will do no such thing, dear! You are no help to Miss Danvers in your current state!”

Wait. Miss Danvers? Her mother knew too. Of course she did. She vaguely remembered Lex mentioning Lillian in his dying diatribe.

“What the hell is going on in here? What did you do Lillian!” It was Alex. Thank God. 

“Alex! You have let me go! I have to find her! I have to find Kara!” Lena was never one to panic, she was raised a Luthor after all! But images of Kara’s lifeless body flooded her memory, and she could feel her heart ripping to shreds with each of the rapidly paced beats.

“Slow down Lena, you need to get back in bed. You’ve been through a major trauma tonight; your body needs to heal.” Her voice was calm, but shaky. Alex was good at pretending that everything was fine, being the Director of a clandestine government operation called for the ability remain calm and in control of oneself no matter what was happening. But when it came to her sister, Alex was a terrible liar – apart from her secret identity obviously. Lena could see that she’d been crying, and she wore the same purple shirt that she’d been wearing at J’onn’s, only now it was covered in blood. 

“She’s dead isn’t she. Kara’s dead. That’s why she isn’t here in the med bay with me! If she were alive she’d be here under the yellow sun lamps!” 

This can’t be happening. Kara can’t be dead. She just can’t be. 

“Lena dear, you need to lay back down or Director Danvers here will be forced to restrain you. Honestly, Lena, pull yourself together!”

Had it not been for Alex, Lena might have added matricide to her list of crimes.

“Mrs. Luthor, you need to leave. Now.” With that Lillian left, not before voicing how appalled she was by the whole ordeal, she was a LUTHOR! NO ONE talks to a Luthor like that! Lillian Luthor, ever the victim.

“Lena, please.” Alex put her hand on Lena’s shoulder and motioned to the bed. Her voice was warm and kind, sisterly even. Lena took a deep breath and did as she was asked to do. 

“Please, Alex. I need to know where she is. I remember everything now, the explosion, the kryptonite. I tried to get her out of there Alex, I swear I did. I wasn’t strong enough! I was too weak to save the woman that I...” 

Before she was able to finish her sentence, Alex wrapped her in a gentle hug. If Kara were alive, Alex would have told her by now. 

Lena was broken.


	5. I have to tell her!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have to make y'all wait a little while longer to find out Kara's fate. Plus I thought it would be fun to explore things from Kara's perspective. The dialog is the same as the corresponding chapter where Lena and Kara were leaving J'onns, but instead of Lena's inner thoughts, we'll hear Kara's.
> 
> I promise not to make you wait too much longer! Enjoy!

“I’m worried about Lena. I have to tell her the truth, I can’t keep it from her anymore.”

Kara didn’t want to keep lying to Lena. So many people had betrayed her trust lately, she didn’t want to add her name to the list, but she needed to come clean about being Supergirl if she was ever going to confess her true feelings for Lena. How could she claim to love her if she wasn’t willing to share all of herself with her.

“Lena has been through hell. You know we finally got to a place where it sort of feels normal again, so I don’t know, maybe just let her enjoy the evening before we take it away.”

She knew Alex was right. She needed to let Lena process everything that had happened today before adding more to her plate. After all, not only had her brother died, but she’d watched Kara – as Supergirl – do it.

“You’re right. Not tonight.”

“What’s not tonight?” 

Oh, no. Had Lena been standing there the whole time? Had she heard? 

“Uh, Kara here was trying to talk me into ordering pizza and pot stickers. I told her we have PLENTY of food already.”

Thank Rao Alex was quick on her feet. 

“She’s right Kara! There’s more than enough wine and food for a small army! But um, I was actually wondering if I could speak with you privately. Its been a rather upsetting day and have a few things I need to get off of my chest.”

Is it your shirt? No, Kara. Stop that. Your friend just watched her brother die on live TV. Get your mind out of the gutter!

“Absolutely. How about we say good night to everyone, and I’ll walk you home. Brainy is probably going to keep cheating anyway.”

So they did. Kara made sure to hug Alex extra tight, she knew that it was going to be an emotional night no matter what Lena needed to talk about. Alex knew that Kara loved Lena – albeit not in the way that she thought – and that she’d do everything in her power to take whatever pain Lena was feeling and make her feel better, to the point where Kara herself would be feeling the pain that Lena felt.

They’d already planned to stay together tonight. Kara had insisted Lena not stay alone after being attacked and kidnapped, so they agreed that at least for a few days, Lena would stay at Kara’s loft. It was only a few blocks away from J’onn’s, so they decided to walk. 

All things considered, it was a beautiful night. The lights from the shops and restaurants lit the street along with the twinkling lights that hung from the trees along the sidewalk. Under different circumstances, tonight would have been a perfect night to confess her feelings for Lena. But no, that had to wait until Kara had shared her truth once and for all. How could she even hope that Lena would feel the same if she didn’t know EVERY side of her. 

No, tonight was about Lena, and HER needs. Not Kara’s. So they walked in silence most of the way, listening to the hustle and bustle of the families and friends shuffling in and out of the bars and restaurants. Without trying, she could hear Lena’s heartbeat – super hearing was a both blessing and a curse and tonight she didn’t know which it was. Lena must have been scared to be walking so late at night. She’d been kidnaped or attacked more times than anyone else in National City, so it made sense that she was nervous. But Kara was here, and even if she didn’t know it, Kara was more than capable of keeping her safe. 

Without a second thought, Kara wrapped her arm around Lena’s shoulders and pulled her towards her. The closeness made her heart be faster, thank Rao Lena didn’t have super hearing or she would have been able to hear. It was innocent enough, Kara had done it many times before so there was no reason it would have made Lena uncomfortable, but for some reason it seemed to make her a little LESS at ease.

They finally made it to the door of her loft, and Kara unlocked the door. She made sure to let Lena go in before her so that she could be certain no one would harm her. But as she turned to close the door, Lena said something that she could have never imagined her saying, and it made her already racing heart beat even faster, only this time not in a good way.

“I know. I know who you are. You’re Supergirl.”

Kara couldn’t move. She couldn’t BREATHE. How… How had she found out? Now Lena was sure to hate her, It needed to be KARA to tell her. Not someone else! She watched as Lena walked to the fridge and poured 2 glasses of water, no doubt wanting something stronger. Kara couldn’t get drunk on regular alcohol, so she’d never kept it around. Lena took the glasses and walked towards the couch. She sat one on the table and sipped on the other as she took a seat on the couch.

“Lena…How? Who told you I….I wanted to tell you so many times!”

For someone who wrote for a living, she was struggling to find the words to say. She crossed the room, walking towards Lena. She took the glass of water in her hand and sat beside Lena. Being sure to keep a respectable distance between them. 

“Then why didn’t you?”

Every emotion that Kara had ever felt surrounding keeping secrets from Lena were pulled to the surface. It was all she could do not to grab Lena and scream to her how much she loved her and didn’t want to lose her; to stop herself from kissing those lips that she’d been dreaming of kissing since she first time she laid eyes on her.   
“I should have told you so long ago I know that. But I just kept making excuses because you’ve been hurt so many times. I convinced myself that I was protecting you. And then one day you were so angry with me, with Supergirl. But you still loved Kara. And I just kept thinking if I could be Kara, JUST Kara, that I could keep you as a friend. I was selfish and scared, and I didn’t want to lose you, so I kept pretending, and I never stopped. And every time I kept my secret from you I wasn’t protecting you, I was hurting you just like everyone else. And I am so, so sorry! I am so sorry!”  
She could see the pain in Lena’s eyes as she was trying to process everything. This was not the way that Kara wanted to tell her her secret. It should have been her that told her! Why hadn’t she told her on the plane in Kaznia? Why? She took a drink from her glass, but not out of thirst. She’d hoped that the cold water would somehow help her fight back the tears in her eyes, but it didn’t. Nothing could have.

“Kara, I…I don’t know what to say. When Lex told me you were…”

No. Not him. Not LEX!! Of course he’d been the one to tell her. Hurting Lena was one of his favorite things to do. By telling her who Kara was, he’d done it in spades.  
“LEX?! Lex is the one who told you? But how, when? I thought I…” Kara stopped short of finishing her sentence. Her mind went back to earlier today when she’d fought Lex in his Lexosuit. She tried to save him! She didn’t want him dead, just in prison for REAL this time. But Lex was too full of pride to be saved by a Kryptonian. He’d rather die than owe his life to the cousin of his mortal enemy. She watched as he detached the arm from his suit and fell to his death with a massive explosion. 

“You thought you what, Kara? Killed him? No, the explosion on Shelly Island was nothing but a distraction. He escaped and went to the place I knew he’d go. He used his Trans-Matter Portal Watch. I was there waiting on him, I had the gun ready. Loaded, I could feel the weight of it in my hands. Every fiber in my being rebelled. I didn’t want to do but I knew I had to because if lex lived the world wouldn’t be safe, my friends wouldn’t be safe. So I forced myself to pull the trigger. I shot my own brother in the chest.”

Kara was speechless. Lena had not only killed her brother, but she’d done it for her. 

“His final words to me were that I was a fool. That my best friend, that EVERY friend that I had was lying to me. With his dying breath, he told me that you were Supergirl.”

It was quiet. Even with super hearing Kara couldn’t hear anything other than her own heartbeat. This was worse than any way Lena could have possibly found out. From the lips of her dying psychopathic brother. She wanted to say something, to make Lena know how sorry she was; to tell her how much she loved her and didn’t want to hurt her like everyone else. But words failed her, so she was silent.

“You know, when I came to this city I promised myself that I would never trust anyone again. Then I met you. And you chipped away at my armor with your warmth and your earnestness and you convinced me to trust in people in friendship again and against my better judgement I did. All the while telling you about my achilleas heel, betrayal. I confided in you that everyone in my past had betrayed me. About how much it hurt to have someone you love lie to you and betray you> I spelled it out to you over and over again, essentially BEGGING you not to betray my trust. Begging you not to prove once again that I was a fool! You reassured me ad nauseum that you would never lie to me, that you’d never hurt me. But all the while there wasn’t a single honest moment in our friendship!”

That was the last straw. Kara knew Lena was hurt, and it was Kara’s fault. Lex may have told her, but had she been less of a coward and told her HERSELF this never would have happened. She couldn’t let Lena go on thinking that their entire friendship was a lie. Rao. If only Lena knew how much Kara loved her. She forgot her own strength and shattered the glass in her hand, sending water and shards of broken glass all over the floor.

“Lena, no! That’s not true! I have NEVER lied to you about how I felt about you! You don’t understand what it means to share a secret identity with someone, how much danger that puts them in! I kept my identity from you because I wanted to protect you. I know I hurt you by waiting so long to tell you my truth, I made ONE mistake. One that was only ever meant to protect you!”  
Kara was crying at this point. Real tears. She could see it in Lena’s eyes that she was processing. Her eyes were welling up with tears as well.  
“I know. I know you didn’t want me to get hurt. But I did. And it took everything I have in me not to do what I always do, to not build a wall around myself and suffocate behind it. But I’m trying Kara. I’m trying to see things from your point of view. I want to believe that the friendship that we have is real, that our entire relationship wasn’t all a façade. But I can still hear Lex in my head calling me a fool. For putting myself in a position to get hurt. For allowing myself to….”

No, its not possible. Could Lena love her back? Could she actually feel the same way that Kara did? Lena was staring at the floor avoiding Kara’s gaze. She put her hands on her shoulders and knelt down in front of Lena, tilting her head to meet the emerald green eyes of the woman she loved, only inches away from her face. 

“Kara, I…”

Suddenly Kara picked up on a strange ticking sound followed by a loud high-pitched tone. BOMB! Without thinking she grabbed Lena and pulled her to the floor beneath her.   
The last thing she saw was panic and confusion in the eyes of her beloved. 

And then everything went dark.


	6. Trapped Somewhere Between Life and Death.

Kara could feel the kryptonite in the air. She couldn’t open her eyes, much less do anything to escape it. She tried to remember where she was, but everything was blurry. It wasn’t until she felt something move underneath her that she remembered what had happened. 

Lena!

Wake up Kara! You have to save her! You have to get her out of here. But she couldn’t move. She could barely BREATHE! Whomever had done this knew her secret identity and had planted a kryptonite bomb. But who? Lex was dead. Lillian was in prison. Who else knew she was Supergirl?

She felt Lena stir underneath her again, this time with a pain filled groan, she lifted Kara into her arms and stood to her feet. 

NO! Please, Lena! Please just leave me! Save yourself! She wanted to scream it at the top of her lungs, but she was still trapped in her own body, unable to move or even open her eyes. This was worse than being trapped in the Phantom Zone all of those years! Rao, please. Get Lena out of here! She has to live!

She heard Lena cry out in pain and they were once again on the floor. Lena’s legs had buckled under her. Please Lena, Kara pleaded in her mind. Please just leave me! But she was up again, this time Lena held her close to her chest. So close that even without super hearing, she could hear every sound that Lena’s heart was making. Normally hearing the sound of her loves heart would comfort her, but she could also hear every sound Lena made as her body was tearing apart from her injuries.

Oh Lena. Please don’t do this. Don’t die just to save me. She could feel her body giving out on her. She’d been breathing the kryptonite in for too long. Nothing short of a miracle could save her now, and she didn’t want Lena to die too.

They hit the floor again. Hard. This time Lena was on top of her, and she could feel how limp her body was. Lena had no strength left in her. The pain and desperation in her voice broke hurt Kara more than any of her injuries!

“Please Kara. Please, don’t die on me. Not now!”

She felt as a steady drip of something warm fell on her face. Rao. Lena’s tears. And blood, she’d recognize the smell anywhere. Lena’s blood. Lena was injured. Lena was dying. And it was all Kara’s fault. She heard another loud crash, and recognized her sisters heartbeat. Help was here, Lena would be safe. But it was too late.

Kara felt herself grow weak as her heart began to slow. 

And then it stopped.


	7. Rao's Light

Kara could feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, as she opened her eyes. She was lying in a field beside a peaceful lake. There was something familiar about this place, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She stood to her feet and began to walk down the path in front of her. 

“Hello little one.”

The voice was calm and beautiful. It made Kara stop in her tracks. 

“Aunt Astra. How is this possible? You died 2 years ago I helped Non Send you off into Rao’s light!”

Kara couldn’t help but wonder if this was a trick, was she once again trapped in a world created by the black mercy? No, this was different. 

“I’m here Kara. You aren’t dreaming. We are together in Rao’s light.”

This wasn’t possible. She couldn’t be dead. There must be some mistake, this HAD to be a dream. 

“No, no you’re wrong. This is a trick, someone’s put me here.”

“Kara listen to me, we don’t have much time. Rao has granted you with a choice. You have sacrificed so much, little one, and fought so hard. You served Him with honor and strength. But you’ve been gravely injured, your heart has stopped beating. As we speak those you love are fighting to save you. It is up to you now to choose whether or not you wish to continue your life on Earth or to join me in Rao’s light.”

Kara felt so at peace here. There were no battles to fight or loved ones to lose. She’d never be in pain again. Could it really be this simple? 

“Tell me what to do, Aunt Astra! Tell me what to do!”

“I cannot make this choice for you, little one. Only you can.”

Kara knew the right thing to do was to return to Earth, but how could she? The people she loved on Earth would be ok without her, without Supergirl. Wouldn’t they?

No, Kara knew she had to go back. Kara embraced her aunt. Too many times she’s had to make this choice, to choose between who and what she wanted and saving the world. She’d done it with Mon-El. She’d done it with Lena too, pushing her feelings down deep not wanting to…LENA! Rao, how could Kara have forgotten! It all came flooding back to her now, the Kryptonite bomb; Lena’s desperate attempts to carry Kara to safety. The tears falling on Kara’s face.

“Aunt Astra I…”

“Go on, little one. Go be a hero.”

\----

The comforting warmth of the field was replaced with the cold dark room of the DEO She couldn’t be sure exactly where she was in the facility exactly. She tried to move but her body was still to weak, but she was finally able to open her eyes, only to see the glass that surrounded her. She’d seen people in these before, but she couldn’t remember exactly what they were called. Some sort of highly pressurized chamber. This one was different though, normally the chamber was clear, filled only with 100% Oxygen. This glass, however had a yellow glow to it. Some how, they’d designed it specifically to infuse Kara’s cells with Yellow Sunlight, similar to the way they’d developed the yellow sun grenades that allowed her to have her powers on Maaldoria. Genius. 

This had Lena ALL over it. She'd been the one to develop the Anti Kryptonite shield AND the one who'd helped brainy rid the atmosphere of kryptonite when the Children of Liberty had attempted to kill her with Lex's dispersion device.

Within minutes of her opening her eyes, she could feel herself getting stronger and stronger. The reality of being trapped in a tiny tube, however, had set in and caused her to go into a mild panic. She was having flash backs to being trapped in her tiny pod for more than 2 decades, causing her heart race and making it hard to breathe. 

Stay Calm Kara. You’re safe. Just stay calm. 

She repeated those words over and over to herself like one recites a mantra, and it was helping. She was connected to leads that were monitoring her vitals, so not long after her heart rate had accelerated, she heard the doors to whatever room she was in crash open. 

“Agent Dox, she’s awake!”

She recognized the voice of the agent, but she couldn’t quite make out who it was. Within seconds Brainy was at her side, and had disabled the scatter field that had prevented anyone from seeing in or out of the chamber. 

“Great Sprock, you’ve come back to us! I calculated a mere 3% of your survival but once we were able to use LCorp Tech to covert this Hyperbaric Chamber to infuse your cells with pressurized Yellow Sun Radiation, it increased to a 87% Probability!”

Kara knew how close she’d come to dying, in fact she was sure she had already died. Had she not made the choice to return not even this chamber could have saved her. 

“Brainy, where is she? Where is Lena?”

Brainy’s face twisted with discomfort, making Kara fear the worst. 

“TELL ME!” 

She hadn’t meant to be so loud, but between the echo of the chamber and the panic in her voice, had she not still been weakened she was sure the glass would have shattered. 

“Miss Luthor, Lena, is alive. She was gravely injured in the incident, but her odds of survival are promising. I calculate a 91% chance that she will indeed make a full recovery. She is with her mother in the med bay.”

Once again, Kara’s heart began to race. Lillian was here. She wasn’t in prison like Kara had thought. LILLIAN could have been the one to plant the bomb after all! Why the HELL would Alex Let her anywhere NEAR Lena! This wouldn’t be the first time she’d tried to kill her!

“Brainy, you have to take me to her! She’s in danger! Lillian is…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the door was once again open.

“I’m what dear?”

Lillian had walked through the doors unescorted, as if she was a welcomed guest and not a known criminal.

“HOW DARE YOU! How dare you walk in here after what you’ve done?”

In her anger, Kara hadn’t noticed how worn Lillian looked. She was far from the well dressed put together woman that she’d always been. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and her clothes looked like she’d been sleeping in them for days.

“Honestly Miss Danvers, you may not believe this but I have nothing to do with the explosion that injured you both." 

Lillian raised her arm and it was only then that Kara noticed the baby truth seeker attached to the forearm of Lena’s mother. Lillian was telling the truth. But if it wasn’t her then who was it? 

"Could I lie?”

Her tone was smug, but kind. Had Lillian somehow managed to grow a heart? She'd have time to process that later, right now, the only thing that mattered to Kara was finding Lena.

“Where is she? Where is Lena? I need to see her! Someone please, just get me out of this thing and take me to Lena!”

Brainy’s face was contemplative. She knew this face meant that he was calculating the odds of something, this was a thing he did all the time.

“I’m afraid that there is a 74% Chance that if you leave this chamber too soon, you will not survive. However, I believe that your sister is with Lena at this moment. Perhaps we can arrange to have Miss Luthor brought to YOU.”

Being told that Lena was alive was one thing, seeing it for herself was another. In her weakened state, Kara was unable to locate Lena’s heartbeat over all other noise in the DEO. And until she saw with her own eyes that Lena was ok, she wouldn’t be able to calm down. She needed to know she was ok, to hear the heartbeat that penetrated to her soul like the melody of the most beautiful song in the world. 

Kara watched as brainy reactivated the scatter field allowing light from the Yellow Sun Radiation to be better contained in the chamber. She closed her eyes and began searching once again for Lena’s heartbeat. After what felt like hours, she finally heard it. 

And it was as beautiful as she remembered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to do some research into how a hyperbaric chamber actually works. That's definitely not my area of expertise, but I figured this is a fictional show where pretty much anything goes, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to think that one could be converted to quickly stabilize and infuse yellow sun radiation into an injured Kryptonian. 
> 
> Also, I know there were many people that Kara could have seen in the valley. I chose Astra because of the way she'd died in season 1. She truly was on the verge of coming around when she was killed, but was still blinded by her pursuit to save Earth from the same fate as Krypton, and being betrayed by her own syster. Honestly I loved her character and I wanted to see her again. 
> 
> Enjoy!


	8. Revelations of Darkness and Light.

Lena was still holding onto Alex when Lillian returned, pushing a wheelchair in front of her. 

“What are you playing at mother? I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Lena was not in the mood to deal with Lillian, even less so that usual. 

“I’m afraid it’s out of your hands, Lena, and mine as well. Your presence has been requested by the Coluan. Brainy is it?” She shot Alex a stern look with what looked like a guilty grin, as if to say “Calm down Miss Danvers. I’m not the enemy here.”

“Fine, but she’s coming too!” Lena motioned at Alex. They had worked together many times over the years, and recent issues aside, she considered her a friend. “You may not be able to lie but I still don’t trust you.”

Alex helped Lena into the wheelchair. Lena had been lucky, she wasn’t entirely sure of the extent of her injuries. Judging from her massive headache and the dizziness, she knew a concussion was likely. And her ribs ached and made it difficult to breathe at times. Kara had shielded her from the majority of the blast by laying on top of her, and may have unintentionally broken a rib or two. There was no doubt that had it not been for Kara’s quick thinking and even quicker reflexes, Lena would have been dead. The thought of Kara dying to protect her almost sent her back in to a frenzied state as Alex and Lillian connected the IV Bags and Heart monitors to the wheelchair. When she started to cry uncontrollably, Lillian did something that Lena had only dreamed of her doing. She crouched down beside her daughter and brought her head to her chest in a loving hug. She’d only been 4 when the Luthors adopted her, and still Lillian had NEVER shown this type of affection towards her, most likely due to the circumstances surrounding Lena’s birth. She knew it couldn’t have been easy for Lillian to have to see the Love Child of Her husband and his mistress every day, much less to have to raise her as her own. 

“Lena, calm down.” Her voice was sincere, motherly. Warm even! “Kara is alive. Brainy sent me to bring you to her, since she is unable to come to you herself.”

Lena felt her heart leap in her chest, Kara was alive?! She looked to Alex for confirmation, who just nodded.

“I’m sorry Lena,” Alex was kneeling beside her holding her hand. “I hadn’t wanted to get your hopes up until she was awake. If Brainy is sending for you, the Hyperbaric Chamber must have worked! YOU Saved her Lena! We were able to use tech that YOU designed to convert the chamber into a pressurized yellow sun radiation chamber!”

“Lena, I do need to prepare you. She is pretty badly wounded. Her external injuries have mostly healed, but her internal ones are severe and with the intensity of the blast coupled with the prolonged exposure to the Kryptonite, I’m afraid she has a long road ahead of her. She’ll likely be confined to the chamber for quite some time.”

Lena knew her mother was talking, but she didn’t hear a word she was saying. She smiled for the first time since she’d woken up. Kara was alive. Nothing else mattered right now.

The walk – or rather ride – from the med bay to the place that Kara was being kept took forever. If she’d had the strength, Lena would have gotten up and RAN, but she had almost collapsed in the floor just taking the 2 steps from her bed to the wheelchair, there was no way that she would have been able to make it to Kara on her own. 

When they finally arrived, Brainy met them at the door. He mumbled something into Alex’s ear, who proceeded to turn and run back where she’d come from with urgency.

“What’s going on Agent Dox.”

Lillian’s voice was stern, the warm and motherly voice from before was gone, and she was back to her cold hard self. 

“I’m afraid that information is classified for right now. It is of no concern at the present moment anyway. Now Miss Luthor,” Brainy looked from Lena to her mother and then back to Lena. “Lena I mean. Have you been made aware of Kara’s current state?” 

She wasn’t entirely sure what her mother had said before but she knew it had something to do with Kara. 

“Alex told me that you’ve put her in a Hyperbaric Chamber. Apart from that all I care about is that she is alive. Brainy, please. Let me see her!”

“As you wish.”

Brainy pushed the doors open and Lillian wheeled her inside the room. This room was only slightly bigger than Lena’s, but it was filled with many more machines. In place of normal lights there were yellow sun lamps and there were no chairs for anyone to sit and keep watch. She figured there must have been no room with all of the extra equipment needed to adequately monitor an injured Kryptonian. Besides, the chamber itself took up most of the room on its own. 

“Lena! Lena is that you? I can hear your heart, Lena. Please, Lena are you there? Talk to me! Tell me you’re ok! Please I need to hear your voice!”

Lena was sitting only inches away when Brainy disabled the scatter field and she was finally face to face with the one person she wanted to see more than anyone else in the world. She raised her hand and pressed it to the glass as Kara did the same, neither of them bothering to try to hide their tears at this point. 

“I’m here Kara, I’m here. I’m alive! You saved me!” 

Lena couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Kara looked normal, perfect and beautiful as usual. It was only then that she began to register what her mother had been trying to tell her. Something about internal injuries and a long road ahead of her. 

“Lena no! You saved me! You saved us both!” 

Kara must have been confused. Lena had failed to get Kara out of her loft. Had Alex and the gang not shown up when they did, they’d both be dead right now. 

“Brainy, do you mind if we…”

Lena motioned towards the door, silently asking to be left alone with Kara for a few minutes. 

“Of course. I need to brief the elder Mrs. Luthor on some new developments as it is.”

With that, he and Lillian left the room. 

“Kara, please, you have to forgive me. I tried to get you out of there, but I just couldn’t. I wasn’t strong enough!”

Lena was pressing her forehead to the class chamber, wishing she could crawl inside and hold her friend close.

“No Lena! I remember! I remember you carrying me, across the room and crying when we fell. I tried so hard to tell you to leave me, to get yourself to safety. But I couldn’t speak, or even open my eyes. The only thing tethering me to this world was the sound of your heartbeat and the sound of your voice, pleading with me not to die.”

Lena didn’t know what to say. She wished more than anything that she could hold Kara’s hand, to wipe the tears from her face.  
“It wouldn’t have mattered. Nothing could have made me leave you behind. Kara I…”

Lena stopped herself, not knowing why. She needed Kara to know how she felt. To know that leaving her behind to die would have been like ripping her own heart from her chest. 

“Lena, there is something you need to know. I haven’t been completely honest with you. I should have told you a long time ago, but I was afraid you’d push me away if you know. But almost losing you, listening to your heart grow weaker and weaker as you tried to carry me to safety, I realized that I can’t keep lying to you anymore. I can’t hold it in any longer! Lena, I…I love you! Rao, I love you so much it hurts sometimes. I would rather be stuck in a room filled with kryptonite than to ever hear you in pain again!”

Lena was silent. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Kara loved her too! She’d been pushing her feelings for her deep down for so long because she hadn’t want to risk their friendship, but that had never been necessary. All this time, she could have been spending it WITH Kara. She was speechless.

“It’s ok, Lena! I know you don’t feel the same way! I didn’t expect you to. But I needed you to know! I didn’t want to die without ever having a chance to tell you how I felt about you.”

If Kara hadn’t been inside the chamber, Lena would have grabbed her right then and there and kissed her passionately. But alas, the think that was keeping Kara alive was also keeping Lena from doing the thing she’d dreamed of doing for as long as she could remember. She made a mental note to develop a pressurized ROOM where someone could stay by Kara’s side should the need ever arise again.

“Please, Kara. Stop talking. Of COURSE I feel the same way you do. Why do you think Lex was so angry and disgusted by our friendship? He knew even before I did that I was in love with you! And he did everything he could to destroy me for it!”

The two women stared into each other’s eyes silently. Kara was obviously cursing the class chamber as much as Lena was. The look in her eyes told Lena that under any other circumstances, there’d be nothing separating them at his point, not even their clothes. For now, they’d have to settle for a long lingering stare as they undressed each other with their eyes.

They were so lost in each other’s gaze that they hadn’t even noticed the door opening and J’onn walking inside. He walked over to the tablet the women and without saying a word, he grabbed Lena’s chair and forcefully shoved it into the side of the chamber, knocking it and Lena to the floor with a loud crash and rendering Lena unconscious. Before Kara had a chance to speak, he tapped on his forehead and instantly where once the Martian Manhunter had stood, now there was someone else. 

The impact of the fall had caused the chamber to quickly depressurize. She was no doctor nor was she a scientist, but even Kara knew how dangerous that was. Kara could feel the effects of the rapid decompression, making it difficult for her to breath. She was starting to lose consciousness when the small figure stepped forward and looked at Kara with an evil grin, before quickly pushing a button on her wrist and leaving through a transmat portal.

It was Eve.


	9. Hell Hath No Fury

Eve knew that Lex would have used his portal watch and escaped to the cabin. She’d waited to be sure she’d not been followed and then she went to find him. She’d expected him to be injured from his fight with Supergirl, and possibly from the fall. What she didn’t expect, however, was to find his cold and lifeless body with two bullet holes. She ran to his side and pulled him to the floor, trying desperately to resuscitate him, but failing.

Lena.

Besides her and Lex, only Lena knew about the secret bunker under the cabin. Lena had only known from the journals he’d left in his cell at Stryker’s, and he damned sure hadn’t told Lillian. She’d be dead already had Lena not taken her from her cell to help extract the harun-el from James. 

No this was Lena. It had to be.

Eve knew there was no saving Lex at this point. She’d already checked his pulse and done her due diligence. No, short of some miraculous divine intervention, there was no saving him. She could feel her heart break as her blood began to boil. She’d always known on some level that Lex had been using her to get to Lena, but that’d hadn’t stopped her from falling hopelessly in love with him. She screamed out in pain as she held his lifeless body in her arms! She stayed there like this until finally, the devil inside took over and she decided that Lena HAD to pay! And she was going to make her pay in spades! She gently laid Lex on the floor, gently closing his eyes with her fingers before kissing him on the forehead, her tears dropping on his lifeless face.

Eve had been spying on Lena for years now. She knew exactly how to best avenge her fallen love. Kara. Lena may have tried to hide it – maybe even from herself – but Eve knew that her true feelings for Kara were much more than platonic. She could see it every time Lena stole a glance at Kara from across the room or when she spent millions of dollars to buy CatCo to save it from Morgan Edge. Kara was Lena’s achilleas heal and Eve knew EXACTLY how to strike!

Lex had spent YEARS experimenting with Kryptonite and finding new and devastating ways to maim and kill Kryptonians! All Eve needed to do was find the perfect weapon and she’d be able to carry out her revenge. She used Lex’s watch to portal to one of his MANY secret labs. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. Lex had developed a bomb that was small enough to fit easily into any small space and was precise enough to target a single dwelling. Effectively DECIMATING it and anyone inside, while leaving neighboring areas relatively untouched save for a maybe knocking a few paintings off the wall. What’s even better, was the bomb was fit with a small vial of liquid kryptonite similar to the one that had fit into the dispersion device that he’d developed to take down Superman! This bomb would not only fill the air with Kryptonite but would cause a massive explosion able to take down the weakened Kryptonian! 

Lex was a genius. 

Eve grabbed the bomb and the glowing green vial and made sure to check the Cameras that Lex had planted inside Kara’s loft. She needed to be sure that she wouldn’t be caught before she was able to carry out her plans! When she was satisfied that no one was home, she portaled her way into Kara’s loft and left the bomb in a potted plant by the window. It had been designed with both a timer and a remote as a fail safe. Not knowing exactly when Kara would be home, Eve opted to use the remote and made her way to the loft that Red Daughter had used when she was stalking Kara. It wasn’t long before the door opened and not just Kara but Lena walked in as well! Oh this was PERFECT! Eve knew that Kara would try to shield Lena when the bomb went off, meaning Lena would likely survive but be forced to helplessly watch as the woman she loved died right in front of her. It was almost poetic!

Eve watched as the two women stood awkwardly in the loft for a while before finally making their way to the couch. She waited until it looked as though they were too deep in conversation for either of them to notice and she hit the button on the remote detonating the Kryptonite bomb. True to her nature, Kara jumped on Lena and shielded her body with her own. Kara made a habit of surviving even the most BRUTAL of attacks – like her battle with Red Daughter – so eve wanted to see with her own eyes that Kara was dead. She watched as Lena tried – and failed – to carry her to safety. Grinning sickeningly when she saw her pull Kara’s body into her own and BEG her to stay alive. That was it, she was gone. Even Kara could not survive that! She would have loved to stay there and watch Lena suffer for longer, but when Alex and the rest of the “Superfriends” as they called themselves, came barreling into the room, Eve knew that was her cue to leave. 

Eve was still wanted for her part in Lex’s failed attempts to take down the Supergirl and his infiltration of the American Government, so she went to the one place she knew they wouldn’t find her. Lex’s secret bunker at Mount Norway. No one – not even Lena - knew about it. She’d be safe there…

Or so she thought!


	10. Mount Norquay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long for this chapter. Things have been a little insane around here. I know where this story is going and its going to be wrapped up here in about 4 chapters or so. Thanks for sticking with me!

Working as a secret partner and spy for Lex for so long had taught Eve how to be sneaky, and to think 3 steps ahead of everyone else. She knew that many of Lex’s secret bunkers had been discovered by the DEO and were being watched around the clock. But Mount Norquay wasn’t on anyone’s radar. Once she was certain that she’d been successful in avenging Lex, she used the portal watch to transport to the bunker. There were MORE than enough supplies to sustain her until she could find a better option. Honestly, she could probably live quite comfortably here for years if needed. 

Eve tried to occupy herself by scrubbing servers and monitoring them for any sign that someone had discovered who had blown up Supergirl’s loft. It wasn’t long before her curiosity and paranoia got the best of her and she decided to hack in to the DEO Database. She hacked into the DEO Cameras where she saw something that made her blood boil! Lena and Kara, ALIVE. 

DAMINIT!!

How could such a fool proof plan fail? Of course Kara was alive. Somehow she ALWAYS managed to service even the most brutal attacks. She’d done so with Reign; she’d even managed to survive when the Children of Liberty had seeded the atmosphere with kryptonite. Looking once again at the feed of the two women, Eve noticed that Kara was being kept in what looked like a hyperbaric chamber, and she knew how CRUCIAL it was to keep the pressure steady or the results could be deadly. 

This was when Eve made her biggest mistake. She knew she needed to distract the Agents at the DEO so she could somehow sneak in and destroy – or at least damage – the chamber. Eve was an expert on secretly hacking into Government Servers without leaving a trace, she’d done this many times while working for Lex and no one, not even the DEO had ever caught her. But being good at NOT being caught also meant that Eve knew HOW to get caught as well. She intentionally made errors in her codes which she knew would alert the DEO that their servers were being accessed from the outside. Once she was sure they were on to her and were sufficiently distracted, Eve used an image inducer to take the face of J’onn J’onzz once again used her portal watch to quickly transport to the DEO. She was able to sneak past the agents and make her way to where Kara and Lena were. 

Eve knew that she’d need to cause a quick loss of pressure in the chamber to cause maximum danger to its inhabitant, so blunt force was the only way to go. She grabbed the handles of Lena’s wheelchair and shoved it with all of her strength into the chamber, causing it to fall over and crack. Knowing that she’d been able to use LENA to harm Kara just added to the satisfaction. Lena may have been knocked unconscious, but Kara was still awake, but fading. She’d already given away who was behind the attacks, so she might as well show her own face. She disabled the image inducer so that Kara could see that it was her before quickly portalling out of the DEO. She’d been so focused on the sweet shock on Kara’s face that she didn’t realize that she’d portaled back into the remains of Kara’s destroyed loft, where she was met with half a dozen of national city's finest, several DEO Agents and one very angry – and very armed – Maggie Sawyer. Before she had a chance to think, she heard the shot from Detective Sawyers gun, and felt the pain in her shoulder as the bullet went straight through her.


	11. Maggie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a while since our favorite NCPD Detective has been brought in on a DEO Case. I'm hoping I did ok with the dynamic between Kelly, Maggie, and Alex. Maggie was Alex's first REAL love, that isn't something that goes away. It doesn't take ANYTHING away from what she shares with Kelly though. And with everything that Maggie went through with Alex, I don't think she'll ever stop caring for Alex either. 
> 
> As far as Kelly goes, I have no doubt in my mind that she and Maggie would be friends and that she would be more than ok - and secure in what she has with Alex - to be ok reaching out to Maggie to help with Kara. She know's Alex needs as many people in her corner as she can get, and from what Alex has no doubt told her about Maggie, she's more than sure that she'd be willing to do whatever she could to help.
> 
> This chapter is a little longer than the others. 
> 
> Enjoy!

It had been more than 2 years since Maggie had heard from the Danvers sisters. She and Alex had decided that a clean break would be best for both of them to heal from their whirlwind romance and engagement, and although Alex would have never made Kara choose between her or Alex, Kara hadn’t wanted to cause either of them any more pain than they were already dealing with. Maggie had been the one to let her off the hook, saying that her sister needed her more. So when Alex’s number popped up on her phone, she almost didn’t answer, but she did. Only it wasn’t Alex’s voice that she heard.

“Detective Sawyer?” The voice was kind and soft. Definitely not Alex.

“Yes, Who is this? Why do you have Alex’s phone?” Maggie probably came across a little harsh, but she didn’t really care at this point.

“I apologize. My name is Dr Kelly Olsen. I’m a… Friend… of Alex and Kara.” She meant girlfriend, that pause said it all. “Detective Sawyer, I know that you and Alex have a history and if I’m being honest, she doesn’t even know that I’m calling you. But you are the only one at the NCPD that Alex trusts, and we need your help.”

What now? A part of Maggie wanted to make a snark comment about the DEO being more than capable of handling any issue without her, but something told her she shouldn’t. Before she could say anything else, a familiar voice came on the line.

“Maggie…” It was Alex. She’d remember that voice anywhere. “It’s Kara.”

She could tell that something wasn’t right. Alex was using the voice she only ever used when something was very wrong.

“I’ll be right there.”

It had been a long time since Detective Sawyer had set foot inside the DEO. She’d helped out on a case or two there in the beginning – mostly involving Reign and the world killers – but after she and Alex broke up it was too painful to be around each other even in passing. As soon as she walked in, she could tell that something major had happened. She hadn’t seen everyone this much on edge – or seen this many agents fighting back TEARS – since Reign had almost killed Kara. If she was being summoned NOW and not then, something even worse must have happened.

Looking around the room, Maggie finally set eyes on Alex. Her head was on the shoulder of a woman who was attempting – along with J’onn – to comfort her. This wasn’t good.

“Detective Sawyer, thank you for coming.” J’onn looked at Maggie and then the woman who was holding Alex.

“Of course! Someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

J’onn started to speak but was interrupted when Alex released herself from the woman’s arms and ran directly at Maggie and hugged her. She could tell by the reaction on the other woman’s face that she was expecting this.

“Maggs. I’m so sorry Kelly called you, but you are the only one we know we can trust outside of the DEO.” She looked up and made eye contact with the woman who she now new to be Kelly Olsen, the “friend” of Alex that had called her.   
  
“Alex, what happened? Where is Kara?”

Kelly and J’onn made their way to where Maggie was still holding on to Alex with a shocked look on her face.

“Detective Sawyer,”

“Call me Maggie.” Obviously this woman was important to the Danvers sisters – and to the rest of their friends. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be here. She may be dating her ex, but they’d both moved on. They could handle being on a first name basis.

“Ok. Maggie. There was an explosion last night at Kara’s loft. Someone had planted some sort of Kryptonite bomb and must have been watching from close by for Kara to come home. She and Lena were inside when it happened. We heard the explosion from several blocks away, but when we got there…” Kelly paused, trying to compose herself. “When we got there, Lena was in bad shape, but Kara…”

Maggie looked at J’onn who was looking up at the ceiling as if willing himself not to cry.

“Kelly? Where is she?”  
  
Alex let go of Maggie and wrapped her arms around Kelly, who was too over come with emotion to continue.

“J’onn?”  
  
No one spoke for a moment. Then she heard another familiar voice coming up behind them.

“Miss Danvers shielded my daughter from the force of the explosion.”  
  
Lillian. Hearing that voice again, instinct took over. Maggie’s hand reached down and pulled her gun from her holster. As if she’d expected this, Lillian rolled her eyes, raised her hands, and continued to speak.

“She took all of the blow while the only impact on Lena came from Miss Danvers body slamming her to the floor and laying on top of her. Because of the Kryptonite, her body was weakened and she was severely injured in the blast.”

What on earth was going on here? Why was Lillian at the DEO? Why wont anyone tell her where Kara is?  
  
“How do we know that YOU didn’t plant the bomb? You’re no stranger to attempted murder.”

Lillian wasn’t shocked at the accusation. But surprisingly, it was ALEX who spoke up in her defense.

“Lillian is helping us, Maggie. We went after her as our FIRST suspect. But she had nothing to do with it. She’s been on her best behavior and has proven herself during this situation.”

The Luthor matriarch looked almost as shocked as Maggie.

“Plus she’s got a baby truth seeker on her arm. She couldn’t lie even if she wanted to.”

That explains it.   
  
“Alex, please. Where is Kara?”

Alex took a deep breath, and them motioned for her to follow.

Maggie followed Alex to the basement of the DEO. No one was talked. In all the time she’d been with Alex and worked with the DEO, she’d never been this deep into the tunnels of the DEO. Was there a secret morgue here she didn’t know about? No. She shook that thought as quickly as it came in her head. Instead she focused on what she knew. She knew there was an explosion and that something bad had happened to Kara. And that things must be bad for Alex to be working with Lillian Luthor of all people! After what felt like forever, Alex stopped in front of what appeared to be a mirror, pausing briefly to compose herself. With the touch of a button and a brief scan of Alex’s retina, the mirror became glass.

Maggie’s heart almost stopped when she saw her. Kara was in some sort of chamber with a yellow glow. At least a dozen yellow sun lamps surrounded her in addition to the one that the chamber seemed to contain.

“Alex…Is she…” Maggie couldn’t say it.

“She’s alive. But barely. We were able to use some of the research that LCorp had been doing – that Lena had been doing – to convert the hyperbaric chamber to pressurize yellow sun radiation and keep her alive. But she’s still not out of the woods.”

All of the emotions and love she had for Kara came flooding back in an instant. The two of them had had a rocky start, and often disagreed on how to handle things – as Supergirl and a Cop – but she had always loved Kara. She was the little sister she’d never known she wanted. Who could have done this? Sure, as Supergirl Kara had no shortage of enemies – one of which was standing less than a foot away. But for some reason, this screamed personal. Worry turned to anger and anger quickly turned to rage.

“Tell me what you need. Whatever it is, I’m in!”  
  
She listened as J’onn spoke, informing her that with the amount of kryptonite used and the complexity of the bomb itself, they couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t an inside job. That was why Kelly had called her, she knew that SHE could be trusted.   
  
“We need for you to go to Kara’s loft and see what you can find. You can bring a team with you if you need, we have a few agents here that we trust implicitly, and if there are any NCPD officers that you KNOW are clean feel free to include them as well. For now, all anyone knows is that something exploded in the home of a civilian. We’d like for you to investigate it under the guise of a normal human crime, even though we know it is far from that. Collect evidence, take samples, and so on.”

Under any other circumstances, Maggie would make a joke about DEO agents improperly bagging evidence when she and Alex met. But this wasn’t the time for jokes.

“Maggie, I know that we aren’t…” Alex began to speak, and even after all this time Maggie knew what she was planning to say.

“Alex, stop. She’s family. We may not share a bed anymore, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still care.”

Maggie thought about what she’d said a little too late. Kelly was standing right beside Alex.

“I’m sorry, Kelly. I should have chosen better words. I only mean that I still care. About Kara AND about Alex. I can see that you two make each other happy.”

Kelly reached out and grabbed Maggie’s hand.   
  
“I knew what you meant, Maggie. We’re all Kara’s family here.”

Maggie nodded.

“Let’s get this bastard.”

This was how Maggie found herself with a select few trusted officers and Agents digging through the rubble at Kara’s loft. At first, Maggie wasn’t sure which officers could be trusted, and had almost decided to work solely with the DEO Agents that J’onn had vetted. But after having J’onn come with her to the NCPD, he was able to find a few who he could tell were genuinely good at heart.   
  
She did what she was told. Only the DEO agents knew that this loft belonged to Supergirl and what had truly happened. The rest only knew that they were investigating a suspicious explosion at a Civilian residence. None of them were even aware that there had been anyone inside when the explosion took place. It wasn’t until a small blonde woman appeared out of nowhere in the loft that they knew that something else was going on.

Maggie had never been one to shoot first ask questions later, she and Kara had gone several rounds about Supergirl’s tendency to punch first on more than one occasion. But as this woman came into the room, she heard her muttering under her breath about how she’d FINALLY killed Kara Danvers, she couldn’t control herself.

As Maggie’s blood boiled inside her veins, she pulled the gun from the holster and shot the woman in the chest, much to the surprise of her fellow NCPD officers. Keeping her gun aimed at the now unconscious woman bleeding out on the floor, she used the comm’s device that J’onn had given her to contact the DEO.

“Danvers. We have something.”

Within minutes, J’onn and Alex were touching down in the room having used the hole in Kara’s loft wall to gain entrance. Though the woman had yet to move, Maggie’s eyes remained glued to her. She didn’t know who or what this woman was and was not about to be caught off guard again.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Alex’s tone was filled with equal parts Anger and Confusion.

“I’m sorry Alex, she came out of no where and was muttering something about killing Kara. I didn’t…” Before she could finish J’onn’s hand was on her shoulder.  
  
“She wasn’t talking to you, Detective Sawyer.”

“How could I have been so STUPID! Of course it was her! I should have known she’d come after her! She was in love with the bastard!” Alex continued to rant about the woman that Maggie now knew to be Eve Tessmacher, a known Ally – and presumed lover – of Lex Luthor. Maggie remembered seeing Supergirl fight him and watching him fall to his death.

“Perhaps we should continue this conversation a somewhere a bit more secure?”

With that, J’onn pushed a button on his suit and a portal appeared. The DEO Agents walked through without a word. The NCPD Officers, however were still in shock. They all looked at Maggie with a “What the Hell Sawyer” look. She nodded in the direction of the portal and they all reluctantly followed suit. J’onn lifted Eve’s body from the floor and followed them through. Maggie was about to follow, when she noticed that Alex had not moved from her spot by where Eve’s body was.

“Alex? What’s wrong?”

“I should have been here, Maggie! I knew that Eve was still out there and that she would be angry that Lex was dead. I’m a highly trained federal agent, I should have KNOWN that this would happen.”  
  
Maggie raised her phone to send a text to Kelly. She’d meant it when she said that Alex was still important to her. She wanted to be there for her, but she knew that Kelly was the person that she really needed.

**Olsen: Be there soon. Take care of our girl.**

She walked over and put her hand on Alex’s shoulder.

“Alex, there was no way you could have known what she was capable of. You and I both know that what Kara does puts a target on her back. You can’t always be there to keep her safe. You’re only human. Kara is a fighter! She’s going to be ok! We have Eve now, and she’s not going to get away with this! I promise you that!”  
  
Alex turned around to hug Maggie just as Kelly was portalling into the room. Maggie looked over her shoulder and motioned for Kelly to come close. They both embraced Alex and held her tight as Alex sobbed uncontrollably. Kelly and Maggie both knew what it was to love Alex, and they BOTH knew how much it took for her to lose control like this. It would take both of them working together to help keep Alex from falling down a dark path. They shared a knowing look before taking Alex by the hands and walking her through the portal to the DEO.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction so I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I've been rewatching the series to prepare for the final season, and I just finished the final episode of season 4 when Lex tells Lena about Kara. I wanted to explore how it might have gone if instead of allowing herself to give in to her Luthor side, Lena had gone straight to Kara to confront her and see her side! Maybe things would have gone differently for everyone! Not sure how long this will be.


End file.
